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Toilalong

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Hi all,

For those who have passed, I studied really hard and scored below 40, can you tell me what am I missing? I need to learn more protection, rotating machine, and general measurement and instrumentation. Please point me to some directions.

I got:

NEC

NESC

NCEES sample

Camara-2 practice exams

Spin up

Guilde to Pass PE

Wildi

Complex Imaginary vol 1-4, and CI NEC drill book

Kaplan review book

Thanks sincerely,

TLL

 
I haven't passed...yet... (still waiting for results on round 2 in MN), but I thought the PPI books were awesome. The PPI Study Guide was great.

...You have a pretty good list of books and references there. Complex Imaginary Vol 1-4 was great... but maybe a little simpler than what the actual exam is. I worked through all of those problems twice. Just keep working problems. Also, try taking a PE class. If I fail again, I think I'm going to take one of those classes.

The biggest struggle I had on the exam was with the theoretical questions. Hard to study for those... Just need to read a lot of random things, I guess.

 
right u basically have all the material i had, and i literary studied for 4 months. but dnt feel confident about exam.

but i would suggest add more core book, because this time around test was basically more of a theory than problems.

but i will be taking the class this time around. for sure.

 
You have more books than I had when I took the Oct 2014 Power PE exam.

Wildi - it helped me more than I could imagine in rotating machines, measurement and instrumentation

Power Systems Analysis and Design (Glover) - good section on protection

IMO, the Power PE exam this year (Oct 2014) was more on practical (industry experience) and theoretical topics. I only have 2.5 years of experience but exposed to lots of different projects and lead one of them.

 
Hi all,

For those who have passed, I studied really hard and scored below 40, can you tell me what am I missing? I need to learn more protection, rotating machine, and general measurement and instrumentation. Please point me to some directions.

I got:

NEC

NESC

NCEES sample

Camara-2 practice exams

Spin up

Guilde to Pass PE

Wildi

Complex Imaginary vol 1-4, and CI NEC drill book

Kaplan review book

Thanks sincerely,

TLL


I'd recommend you create binders with Wikipedia articles and create an index. EVERYTHING you can think of power related. Helps with theory and job related questions that aren't in your line of work.

 
Print out the power exam specs from ncees that shows how many questions per topic are asked and make up your notes based on that. Helped me a lot.

 
Thanks all, do you know if it is ok if I list the detail of a topic that I want to ask here?

 
Thanks all, do you know if it is ok if I list the detail of a topic that I want to ask here?
As long as its not related to questions on the exam you are good. I started studying in August going through the text books which I studied in college as they are the most familiar books and it helped me a lot. I completed studying major topics in August and then in September and October I started solving problems. CI, Spin-up, and NCEES. Like everyone said these books were not at all close to the real exam however it helps you keep pace with different kinds of problems. I also took test masters it helped me to keep pace and study with other engineers.

 
Thanks all, do you know if it is ok if I list the detail of a topic that I want to ask here?
You can discuss any topic you want to as long as it isn't a specific question from one of the actual exams.

I would suggest that the "Electrical" sub-forum might be a better place for this though, as that is where these types of discipline/topic specific questions are usually found.

 
ToilAlong and PEoct, I took the exam in April and passed it. Five things helped me. The first was I studied the topics and tried to learn and understand the main and underlying concepts of each of the topics listed in NCEES before attempting the practice problems. Understanding the concepts is more important than getting correct numerical values. Next I used the NCEES practice exam to reinforce the concepts by trying to identify them in solving the problems. Secondly I studied online with a group. We each complemented each other, one was strong in areas that some of us where weak in ad vice verca, this really helped. We also shared reference and study material with each other. Get to know your reference material well, because you need to be able to look things up in the indixes during the exam. Thirdly, we used a book written by Alexander Graffeo (The Electrical Engineer's Guide To Passing The PE Power Exam), which really helped. I am not saying that his book alone was all that was needed, but it definitely helped organized our study and to learn key concepts and topics quickly as well, because his coverage is based on the NCEES list of exam topics. The fourth thing we did was to develop our own personal notes with iportant concepts, formulas, diagrams circuits ect. The last thing we did was use the Complex Imaginary (volumes 1-4) practice exams to simulate exam conditions buy taking practice exams under strict conditions. God willing this will be helpful. Remember, you can pass this, and the saying is not if you pass, but when you pass.

 
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Where can I learn more about:

1) instrument transformer

2)Overcurrent protection, protective relaying, protective devices

3)insulation testing

4)Ground resistance testing,

5) Grounding

6)Switches and PLCs

7)Transformer connection

8)Demand and energy management/Calculation

 
Where can I learn more about:

1) instrument transformer

2)Overcurrent protection, protective relaying, protective devices

3)insulation testing

4)Ground resistance testing,

5) Grounding

6)Switches and PLCs

7)Transformer connection

8)Demand and energy management/Calculation
2) GE printed a book called the art and science of protective relaying. You can find it for free online.

5) I think most 'grounding' questions asked are found in the NEC

Most of the other items you listed I found by searching online and sifting through different things and printing it all out.

Unfortunately, there is no one stop shop for all of this..

The Graffeo book is worth the price. It covers quite a bit of topics in an easy to read format. It helped me on the exam.

 
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right u basically have all the material i had, and i literary studied for 4 months. but dnt feel confident about exam.

but i would suggest add more core book, because this time around test was basically more of a theory than problems.

but i will be taking the class this time around. for sure.
Although I don't know a transformer from a neutral ground resistor thingy majigger; taking a class would have been the plan for a retake.
 
Where can I learn more about:

1) instrument transformer

2)Overcurrent protection, protective relaying, protective devices

3)insulation testing

4)Ground resistance testing,

5) Grounding

6)Switches and PLCs

7)Transformer connection

8)Demand and energy management/Calculation


Here are my references for the topics you listed:

1. Instrument Transformer - Power Systems Analysis and Design (Chapter 10.2)

2. Overcurrent protection, Protective Relaying, Protection Devices - Power Systems Analysis and Design (Chapter 10), SPD Electrical Protection Handbook by Cooper Bussman

3. Insulation Testing - I guessed this answer correctly but you can find this information at IEEE Standard 400

4. Ground resistance testing - Some are from NEC Handbook and technical article by Fluke titled Earth Grounding Resistance

5. Grounding - See #4

6. Switches and PLC - Wildi (Chapter 20)

7. Transformer connection - Electric Power Distribution System Engineering by Turan Gonen (Chapter 3)

8. Demand/Energy calculation - Electric Power Distribution System Engineering by Turan Gonen (Chapter 2)

 
I failed the exam in April, and passed this one. I honestly thought this one was a lot harder, though. I would personally recommend School of PE. I took the session where it's four weekends, Saturdays and Sundays for 8 hours a day. It's intense, but it's 64 hours of very good review, with a lot of practice problems.

 
How to preprare for the protection part of the PE-power? Any advices from people who passed?

 
The best tool for you is to check your diagnostic sheet and find out where your weaknesses are. All the references in the world are not going to tell you where do you have to adjust.

Protection on the test just touches the basic stuff. Be sure you know use CT ratios, what kind of protection you need to use in transmission lines, and distribution. Anderson's is a heck of a book but a little too deep, also too big, if you are not familiar with power systems protection. I would recommend find a Blackburn book, which may be the best reference for the topic out there.

Good luck

 
I'd also recommend at least skimming through IEEE Std 242 (The Buff Book), Recommended Practice for Protection and Coordination of Industrial and Commercial Power Systems. It's a surprisingly thorough source that covers almost everything you could expect to see on the PE in terms of protection and coordination. It's a big standard at over 700 pages, but I would at least recommend reading over the first four chapters, which cover:

  1. General Principles of system protection
  2. Short circuit calculations
  3. Instrument Transformers (CTs/PTs)
  4. Application of protective relays
This will give you a pretty good handle on what to expect, and you can dive further into more specific topics later on in the standard. Hope that helps, good luck!

 
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